This is the eighth installment in this year’s Scouting GABF 2015 series of previews of breweries pouring at the Great American Beer Festival, which opens Thursday in Denver. We’ve invited beer writers from across the country to weigh in on the GABF 2015 regions. We’ve also asked everyone to throw in a few wild cards — breweries from anywhere in the country they want to check out.

Now up, Tierney Pomone, founder of the Stouts & Stilettos beer blog based out of Harrisburg, Pa. Tierney says she is “devoted to spreading all things craft beer and fostering a sense of community for women interested in craft beer.” She co-founded the Harrisburg Beer Week and contributes to Beer Street Journal, Beer Geek Nation, Fermented Artistry, SaraBozich.com, and Hey Brewtiful.

This is the seventh installment in this year’s Scouting GABF 2015 series of previews of breweries pouring at the Great American Beer Festival, which opens Thursday, Sept. 24, at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver. We’ve invited beer writers from across the country to weigh in on the GABF 2015 regions. We’ve also asked everyone to throw in a few wild cards — breweries from anywhere in the country they want to check out.

For the Southeast region, we feature an in-house expert: John Frank, a political reporter and craft beer writer at The Denver Post. (His motto: “Beer helps the politics go down.”)

John joined the Post after writing a weekly craft beer column for the News & Observer in Raleigh, North Carolina. He also is a homebrewer and obsessive craft beer hunter and collector who makes scouting trips across the country for good brews. Follow him on Twitter @ByJohnFrank.

Here is his GABF guide to the region:

When you trumpet southern craft beer, the good folks in Colorado and the Pacific Northwest often roll their eyes. But the region’s credibility and roster of great breweries is growing each year. (Look no further than our First Drafts beer experts, who are all putting Southeast breweries on their must-visit list — Caroline (Wicked Weed), Jessica, (Nola), Stan (J Wakefield, Bayou Teche), Ryan (Yazoo), Brian (Funky Buddha) and Eric (J Wakefield).)

This is the fifth installment in this year’s Scouting GABF 2015 series of previews of breweries pouring at the 2015 Great American Beer Festival, which opens Thursday, Sept. 24, at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver. We’ve invited beer writers from across the country to weigh in on the GABF 2015 regions. We’ve also asked everyone to throw in a few wild cards — breweries from anywhere in the country they want to check out.

Caroline Wallace is one of the writers/co-founders of Bitchbeer.org, an all women-run craft beer blog founded in Austin, Texas, in 2012. Seeking to reclaim the term “bitch beer,” which is often used to describe sugary sweet or low-calorie beverages marketed to women in place of beer, the ladies of Bitch Beer apply their craft beer knowledge and humor to feature beer news, interviews, event coverage and feature stories from Austin and beyond.

Bitch Beer has been named one of the “Top 10 Austin Food Blogs” by the Austin Chronicle and one of “10 Food Blogs to Follow” in Glamour Magazine. The women of Bitch Beer released their first book, “Austin Beer: Capital City History on Tap” in 2013. The book spans more than 160 years of Austin beer history, from pre-prohibition through present day. This is Caroline’s fourth year covering the Great American Beer Festival.

The list was posted before the beginning of the mad rush that is ticket presale open to members of the Brewers Association and the American Homebrewers Association. We’ll be writing about that, too. (So far so good, according to the Twittersphere).

This is the fifth installment in this year’s series of previews of breweries pouring at the 2014 Great American Beer Festival, which opens Thursday in Denver. We’ve invited beer writers from across the country to weigh in on the GABF 2014 regions. We’ve also asked everyone to throw in a few wild cards – breweries from anywhere in the country they want to check out.

We didn’t have to look far for a Southeast craft beer expert. John Frank, a political writer and First Drafts contributor at The Denver Post, is the resident expert. He recently joined the Post after working for The News & Observer in Raleigh, where he wrote a weekly craft beer column on North Carolina’s burgeoning craft beer scene. He also travels the country drinking craft beer and has contributed to All About Beer magazine. Follow him on Twitter @ByJohnFrank.

This marks the return of our series previewing breweries pouring at the Great American Beer Festival. The 2014 edition begins Thursday at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver. We’ve invited beer writers from across the country to weigh in regions as defined by the GABF map. We’ve also asked everyone to throw in a few wild cards – breweries from anywhere in the country they want to check out.

Our first installment comes from Joshua M. Bernstein, a beer, spirits, food and travel journalist who contributes to Bon Appétit, Men’s Journal, Details, Saveur and Imbibe, where he is a contributing editor. He’s also the author of Brewed Awakening and The Complete Beer Course. He lives with his wife, daughter and dog in Brooklyn, where he drinks plenty of beer and leads homebrew tours.

Beer geek nirvana at the first What the Funk!? Festival (Eric Gorski, The Denver Post)

Organizers of last fall’s inaugural What the Funk!? Festival promised the event would return for another installment, but we weren’t expecting it so soon.

A slightly bigger version of the invitational festival showcasing barrel-aged, wild, sour and funky beers from a beer geek’s dream team will coincide with the Craft Brewers Conference coming to Denver in early April.

The fest will take place from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday, April 10, at the EXDO Event Center. Oh, and another thing … Tickets ($80 plus fees) are on-sale now here. The first WTF!? sold out quickly so it would be wise to act fast.

This is the fourth installment in a series of previews of breweries pouring at the 2013 Great American Beer Festival, which opens Thursday. We’ve invited beer writers from across the country to recommend breweries from their respective regions and single out a few breweries from anywhere they’re eager to check out. Next up, covering the Southeast, is Heather Vandenengel, a self-described nomadic beer writer and news editor for All About Beer Magazine. Formerly based in Boston, she’s now traveling the country in search of good beer and great stories. You can follow her on Twitter @heathervandy.

Our new iPad app serves as a guide to metro Denver’s bountiful breweries, beer bars and bottle shops, the holy trinity of craft beer enjoyment for followers and fans. Download the app for iPad .
Next time you head for a beer in Boulder, don’t forget your friend, Beers of Boulder and Boulder County, an iPad app from the Daily Camera. Download the app for iPad .

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In Colorado, our pint glasses overflow with excellent beer. New breweries, new batches, festivals every other week. How lucky are we? First Drafts is The Denver Post's beer blog aimed at helping you keep tabs on the state's ever-expanding craft beer culture. We offer a mash of news, event coverage, homegrown stories, tasting notes and tips to help you imbibe. Expert drinker or homebrewer? Let us know what you're loving about Colorado's beer scene. Not sure exactly what a firkin is? No worries, let us be your guide. Go ahead. Belly up and drink it in!